North London hit by blackout [Sep 5] Thousands of homes were plunged into darkness after a power cut in north London. More than
2,800 people were affected by the blackout which struck parts of Muswell Hill just after 8.15 last night. EDF Energy said electricity was
restored in some areas after 10 minutes but others were affected for three hours as engineers battled to repair a fault in an underground
cable. The blackout comes a week after one of the biggest electrical failures in London.

Signs of the Times #257 (via email to Nancy)

We've had some bright and fierce lightning that is lighting up the sky like broad daylight for a second or two. A friend thought it was
reflection from a lake that is 5 miles away, people are making excuses for the strange things happening in our atmosphere. I felt the earth
shake the other night [Sep 3] but have seen nothing in the earthquakes reported, it was a small one but I felt it, about 8:00 pm.

Signs of the Times #256

Reuters: Scores Dead as Floods, Storm Wreak Havoc in China [Sep 4] Floods, landslides and the strongest typhoon to hit China in a
quarter of a century have killed at least 86 people and many others are still missing, residents and provincial officials said on Thursday. ...
In the northwestern province of Shaanxi, 34 people were missing after 12 days of heavy rain triggered the worst flooding in the region in
40 years, state radio said. ... In southern China, Typhoon Dujuan killed 38 people in the coastal province of Guangdong before weakening
as it moved into the neighboring Guangxi region.
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=MPMRYC0SKOMA4CRBAEOCFFA?type=worldNews&storyID=3389715

Signs of the Times #255

Nearly 1.4 million more people in the United States fell into poverty last year - almost half of them children - even as the country emerged
from recession, according to a Census Bureau survey. About 12.4 percent of the population, or nearly 34.8 million people, lived in poverty
in 2002, according to the survey being released today. That was up from 12.1 percent, or 33.4 million, in 2001. Roughly 17.2 percent of
children, or 12.2 million, lived in poverty in 2002, up from 16.4 percent, or 11.5 million, in 2001. About 6.8 million households in 2002
received food stamps, up from 6.4 million in 2001. [and from another source] Since the start of this recovery, unemployment has
continued to trend upward, from 5.6 percent in November 2001 to 6.2 percent in July 2003 ... There are 3 unemployed people for every
job opening. Underemployed workers - those working fewer hours than they want to or in a job for which they are overqualified - reached
double digits (10.2 percent) in July 2003. Current unemployment rates are actually lower than they would be, except for the fact that some
2 million workers have stopped looking for work in this poor market. http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/briefingpapers_bp142

Signs of the Times #254 (from godlikeproduction Message Board)

It's 9AM here in London and it is lighting up everything brighter than the Sun. [and from another poster] The same type of lights are
being seen over New York City, Boston and London just a while ago. Anyone see a pattern forming here? [and from another poster]
Something happening, NYC. Very bright star/missle/comet in the sky. Seems like its just standing still. Very bright. In a southerly direction.
[and from another poster] I saw it earlier in NYC when I went outside, it was under Mars and dim at the time I saw it. [and from another
poster] Someone in TN was also seeing something, only in the eastern sky. [and from another poster] From the upper west side of
Manhattan it looks like its at an exact south west position. Its getting dimmer and dimmer slowly. [and from another poster] Upstate NY
here, 50 miles NW. I can see Mars out my bathroom window, I see a star to the lower left of Mars and a bright flickering one around the
same height in the sky to the right. [and from another poster] Connecticut here, I just saw another meteor in about the same place where
I saw one earlier. Due west. [Note: possibleUFO mass sightings.]

Signs of the Times #253

Ohio [Sep 4] http://www.herald-dispatch.com/2003/September/04/LNlist5.htm Residents in the Rome Township, Proctorville and
Chesapeake areas were not necessarily concerned, but were curious about the source of odd lights in the sky Sunday and Monday nights.
Two lights appeared to circle as if chasing one another each night over Rome Township, prompting residents to peer skyward. Occasional
blips or flashes also appeared at random. The Lawrence County Sheriffs Department received phone calls inquiring about the lights, as
did television stations WOWK and WSAZ.

Signs of the Times #252

UFO Cluster Hanging Around Over UK [Sep 3] Strange lights in the North-east night sky have baffled the experts. Sixteen lights
travelling rapidly across clear skies were spotted over two nights by a Fyvie resident. Air traffic control bosses and aviation experts have
ruled out aircraft or satellites, because the lights were travelling too fast to be planes or orbiting objects.
http://www.rense.com/general41/clust.htm

Signs of the Times #251 (via email to Nancy)

Former Government minister Michael Meacher has claimed that the war on terrorism is a political smokescreen allowing the US to
dominate the world and its oil supplies. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1036591,00.html Michael Meacher, who served
as a minister for six years until three months ago, today ... claims in an article in today's Guardian that the war on terrorism is a
smokescreen and that the US knew in advance about the September 11 attack on New York but, for strategic reasons, chose not to act on
the warnings. Mr Meacher adds that the US has made no serious attempt to catch the al-Qaida leader, Osama bin Laden. He also
criticises the British government, claiming it is motivated, as is the US, by a desire for oil.

Signs of the Times #250 (from godlikeproduction Message Board)

I was watching C-Span around noon Eastern today [Sep 5]. Senator Byrd, aging Democrat from West Virgina, came to the podium on the
Senate floor to deliver a speech. The speech was great, of course, but what disturbed me was Byrd´s demeanor. For instance, before he
gave his speech, he went on for quite awhile about Senator Harkin and actually said, "I´ll always remember you, Senator Harkin." I
thought that was really strange. One usually says, "I´ll always remember you" as a farewell, on those occasions when you don´t expect to
see that person again. Also, Byrd seemed in that kinda mood, as if this was his last speech. And, at the end of the speech, he started
reciting poetry, like a farewell.

Signs of the Times #249 (from godlikeproduction Message Board)

At precisely 4:27 PM [Sep 5], a helicopter flying at 500 to 800 feet passed very quickly towards Washington, DC. It looked like it was in a
hurry and it was going straight to wherever it was going, regardless of what it had to fly over. What in the hell is causing all this
helicopter traffic? They flew right over downtown Charlottesville. They were definitely VIP movers. The NGIC (National Ground
Intelligence Center) are now housed in a state of the art facility just north of Charlottesville and north of the airport. [and from another
poster] Here in Waco, TX next to Crawford, there has been much small jet traffic today. Today the military has been everywhere. [and
from another poster] In Crawford today the Chief of police was standing off to side watching everybody go and come. Never seen that
before. Something´s up. [and from another poster] I live about 5 miles from a military base in the Appalacian Mountains. There is a
Special Forces group located there and do some training for the Delta force there. There has been a lot of air traffic at that base yesterday
and today. Yesterday a lot of Chopper traffic and today there have been fighters cruising very low (tree top level and under close to
ground) and very very slow. Just strange. Not normal activity from the training and so forth I´ve seen in the past years. [and from
another poster] Weird airtrafic here in CFB comox, Washington, sounds like F18 or A6 from Whidbey taking off, I think. [and from
another poster] I´m in a small city in the mountains of western NC, and I´ve noticed an increase of air traffic here, both military and
commercial/private. Note there are no military bases near here. It seems that there are more military choppers around too. [and from
another poster] Ditto on the chopper activity, even here in Idaho. Been busy up high for no apparent reason. [and from another poster]
Military chopper activity in Salt Lake. [and from another poster] Sheriffs active in Indiana. Saw four copters today while I was at work.
[and from another poster] We have had several blackhawk go in and out of the newly created camp just near I10, in Florida. [and from
another poster] Art Bell at radio station 640 [Sep 5] just reported a federal alert for 4 terrorists on loose in US and plotting terrorist
attack. [Note that Homeland Security is oddly missing from this alert.]

Signs of the Times #248 (via email to Nancy)

Here in the northeast coast of the USA (NJ and PA) we keep having occurances if stray small, very red (almost neon) clouds that will
emitt lightning from them. No thunder, no rain. These clouds stand out by themselves. Also, on the local TV news [Sep 4], while showing
the Sun on one of the clear days, you could clearly see that blob located on the bottom right hand side of the Sun. Something's up.